Meanwhile, Alabama resumed its reign atop the poll, looking to defend its two consecutive BCS national championships. Alabama has won the national title three of the last four years, and the last four BCS National Championships have been won by a team from Alabama; the only interruption in the Crimson Tide's roll came in 2010 when Auburn won the title.

Pollsters heavily favored teams from the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12. Six teams from the Southeastern Conference were ranked in the poll, all at 13 or above. Both the Big Ten and the Pac-12 have five teams each in the preseason poll.

Pollsters ranked Oregon the best team in the Pac-12 at No. 3, but Stanford was ranked right behind the Ducks at No. 4. UCLA, USC and Oregon State are the other three teams in the top 25, coming in at 21, 24 and 25, respectively.

The only team from the Mountain West in the Top 25 was Boise State, ranked at No. 19 nationally. Fresno State came in at 31st, and San Jose State came in at 41st.

Landon is the Sports Content Manager for DeseretNews.com. Landon has backgrounds in web development, digital product management and journalism. He previously managed FamilyNews.com for Deseret Digital Media and reported more ..